With the emergence of low cost high definition video cameras and high speed internet connectivity, video internet traffic is growing quickly. 360 degree video is an emerging trend in video conferencing, automotive, and surveillance applications, among others and is supported by wide field of view cameras, including 180 and 360 degree field of view cameras. Dedicated web sites and channels are also available to post and view 360 degree videos. For collaboration between groups of users, 360 degree video offers greater flexibility. Instead of switching between cameras, a remote viewer can move across a room using a 360 degree view and zoom in on people or objects of interest in the camera's view.
To support 180 and 360 degree video capture, the imaging system requires a wide Field of View (FoV). This allows more of the scene to be captured simultaneously. A common method of increasing the FoV is to use multiple cameras all pointing out from different directions so that the combination of cameras covers the desired FoV. In such a multiple camera system, the edge of one camera's FoV meets or overlaps with the edge of the next camera's FoV. With enough cameras, a complete circle or half circle is obtained. Such a system suffers a discontinuity in the image in the overlapping regions between each pair of adjacent cameras.
The seams can be avoided or at least reduced by using a single camera with a 360 degree FoV or reduced by using fewer cameras with higher individual FoVs. The single camera avoids the multiple camera inputs and the stitching. In practice, however, a large higher resolution single image sensor with a correspondingly large wide angle imaging optics system is more expensive than a multiple camera system with standard or medium wide angle lenses. At similar cost, the single camera system is limited by the resolution of the single imager and perhaps by distortion produced by the lens system.